Black Sheep Outcast
by Kit Kat50
Summary: Black Sheep Outcast, is a story inspired by the scene in Cheaper By the Dozen, where Mark runs away. What if Mark did not run away to Midland but to somewhere else, and what if Tom had not found his son on the train? How far would Mark's family go to find
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I do not own the rights to "Cheaper By the Dozen" or "Cheaper By the Dozen Two," this story is only for the enjoyment of the author and whomever chooses to read the following story.

This story occurs right before, during and after Mark runs away in "Cheaper By the Dozen." It takes the place of some events in the movie, and adds new ones. Enjoy!

Chapter one: A Mapped Plan 

Mark's Point of view (POV)

"Beans, please come back, don't stay dead, _please_!" I wailed to my only friend who was in his shoebox grave. Of course this begging did not bring Beans back alive; I did not really expect it to though. Only in those fairy-tales that my sisters like and seem to live by, did wailing help someone to be brought back to life. Well, except for in the days of Jesus, but other than that, physical life after death just did not occur. It figures that I would be the one to lose my best friend, who by the way was a frog; nothing seemed to work out in my life. I was always the outcast of the family, the one with the geeky glasses and just general quirkiness. My siblings, particularly Sarah, had taken to calling me FedEx, saying that I was not a real member of the family. I hated that nickname, but I now wondered if there was any truth in it. Sitting up on my bed, I could still hear my so-called family arguing downstairs. I had left the scene when everyone showed that they did not give a care about me. Well, Nora called my name, but what does she know, she left the family for her child-hating boyfriend named Hank! I gently placed Bean's makeshift grave on my bed as I slowly got off and walked to my desk. After a few minutes of searching, I find what I was looking for, a map.

This was no ordinary map; this was my dream come true map, my map that could change my life if I decided to act upon it. For a long time I had entertained thoughts of using the map, but I had never dared to. It was time to stop being a wimp and use it. Reaching into my desk once more, I pull out a blank sheet of paper and write a simple message:

**BIG FAMILIES STINK! **

I decided that the note was perfect, it said what needed to be said, and it did not meander in matters that were unimportant such as what I was doing or where I was going. I thought of what I would need on my journey, and decided against bringing a lot of stuff, which would only create unnecessary baggage. Thanks to my secret passage way, I could leave right at that very moment, instead of waiting until everyone went to bed, like most children have to do. I gingerly hug Bean's shoe box, and set it back on my bed, placing the note on top of the box. With a glance back towards where my best friend laid, I grabbed my small knapsack which I had placed what few things I was bringing with me and crawled into the passageway. A moment later, I had exited the house.


	2. A Lementable Discovery

Once again, I do not own "Cheaper By the Dozen."

Thank you reviewers. I hope that this chapter is to your liking!

Chapter Two: A Lamentable Discovery (Jessica's POV)

Life at this house is insane. Well, my family has always been bizarre, being that there are twelve children in the house. Now that we live in Evanston, life had certainly plummeted from having a mostly loving family, to a life in which most of the family members hate each other. I am afraid that this newfound abhorrence went as deep between Mom and Dad. Kim and I had caught them fighting earlier this evening, and they sounded as though they wished that they had never met.

"Kimmy, we have to do something! Mom and Dad are going at each other's throats, Lorraine and Sarah are competing for the drama queen role, and Mark looked as though he wished that he had never been born!" I exclaimed to my twin sister who was sketching some picture in her drawing pad that she had received on our last birthday.

"I definitely know what you mean! This is a really arduous problem, and we need to do something, but what?" Kim pondered, setting aside her sketchbook. "We should be able to think of something, as we are the geniuses of the Baker household." She got up off her bed and peered out the window, an action that she does when she is facing a problem that she does not know how to solve.

"Kim, I'll be back, I am going to go ask Mark something, and I will be back in a few minutes!" I stated as I thought-provokingly stepped out of my room. As it was, I did not get to his room quickly because I overheard Mom and Dad bickering, something about Dad having to sleep on the couch.

"Mommy, Daddy, are you two going to get a divorce? That is what happens when most parents fight as much as you." I cry out, unable to keep the nagging thought to myself. I watched as Mom and Dad's faces showed their shame. Dad cleared his throat and Mom stepped up to me, putting her arm on my shoulders. Finally, she pulled me into a hug.

"Jessica, we are so sorry. Your Mom and I love each other deeply and love each of you, you do not have to worry about your Mom and I divorcing. "I promise that we will never leave you." Dad murmured, and reached over to kiss my head. I backed away from my parents slowly, unsure if I should trust them. I nodded and begin to walk near the staircase that lead to Mark's room. I had a queasy feeling in my stomach, which puzzled me, because Mom and Dad already had affirmed their decision not to divorce. I determinedly shrugged the feeling off, figuring that the feeling was left over from when I thought they would divorce. I reached the stairwell that led to Mark's loft-style room, still fighting the unshakable dread. Step after step, I fought the horrible nausea, which reached its peak at the threshold of Mark's room.

"Mark, can you open up the door, I have an important matter to discuss with you." I called out, figuring that he would open the door quickly, as Kim and I am a couple of the only people who did not harass him a tremendous amount. I stood there for a couple of minutes, and began to grow impatient. "Mark, please open the door! I really would like to discuss something with you!" I began to pound on the door a la Sarah. "Mark, if you do not open the door, I am just going to rudely barge in your room!" Even after that warning, I still did not receive a response from him. Since I do not enjoy lying, I kept my promise, and swung open his bedroom door. "Mark, I stood outside of you door….Mark, where are you?" I stammered, realizing that he was not in his room, where he always goes to retreat. I glanced around his room, and spotted a shoebox and a piece of paper on Mark's bed. My curiosity got the best of me and I walked over to the piece of paper and picked it up. "BIG FAMILIES STINK!" was the message that I read, I had to agree with him, this whole era of our lives were soiled in friction. I saw that the shoebox had the word "Beans" on it, and seeping through the box, a retched smell, the smell of death filled the air. I tried to process what had just occurred. I had found a cryptic note with only three words, a shoebox apparently with a dead amphibian inside of it, and Mark was nowhere to be found. The answer came quickly, to my dismay. Mark had grown tired of his family and had run away! So I did the only thing that I could think of doing in this circumstance, I screamed and ran down the stairs, pounding on my parents' bedroom door.

"Mom! Dad! Please open the door, this is an emergency!" I cried out as I pounded on the door. All my siblings, minus Nora, poked their heads out of their doors to see what the commotion was about. Dad quickly threw open the door, and I rushed inside their room. "Mom, Dad, I found this in Mark's room, please read it." My Mom grabbed the note from me and I watched as her face drained of all color. She silently showed it to Dad. Before I could process as to how he had moved so quickly, he had jumped up and flew into the hall.

"Kids! Come into the hall!" He yelled as my brothers and sisters rushed out of their rooms. After confused looks from my siblings, he looked at us each in our eyes and began to tell us something that I thought I would never hear.

"Kids…your Mom and I are sorry for everything that has happened today, thank you for putting up with us, but we have to tell you something..." Dad started as Nigel interrupted with the perfect question, "Where's Mark, he's not listening to your announcement?" Dad scooped up Nigel in his strong arms. "Nigel, that is the question of the hour. Kids, it seems as though Mark ran away." Gasps filled the air and Kim ran up to me. Mom, who had obviously found out, stood sobbing. "Ok, here is the game plan. I want everyone to pair up, Lorraine, you take Nigel and Kyle, and we are going to form a search party.

I heard Charlie clear his throat. "Dad, Mom, everyone, I am sorry that I was a jerk lately, please forgive me. Has anyone called the police yet?" he asked looking over at Mom, Dad and I. We shook our heads "no." "Alright, I will call them, be back in a few minutes." He rushed off to find the nearest and working phone as we had accidentally broken one yesterday.

I took the time to study everyone's face. Kim's face showed disbelieve as did Nigel, and Kyle's. Sarah's face showed shame, she was probably remorseful of how she had treated Mark. Mike and Jake both had matching looks of barely hidden worry, Henry looked as freaked out as he had the day that we learned that we were leaving Midland. Lorraine was softly crying as she walked over to Mom and hugged her. An awkward silence filled the air and lasted until Charlie returned to the hall, breaking the silence.


	3. Game Planning the Search

Let me check…Nope! I don't own "Cheaper By the Dozen!"

Chapter Three: Game Planning the Search (Charlie POV)

The phone call had shaken me up. Well, I was already freaked out, but talking to the police made it seem so official. The officer was kind enough and promised to get police over to our home within minutes. I knew that he was taking me serious when he had told me that once he interviewed Mom and Dad, a Missing Child Alert would be issued for Mark. I don't know a whole lot about Missing Child Alerts, only that they are something issued throughout the United States that dealt with missing children. I cleared my throat and glanced at my parents. "The police should be here shortly." I stated, as if on cue, several police sirens filled the air, coming close to our home. "They want to interview you and then, well, they are issuing a Missing Child Alert." I softly said as my entire family, with the obvious exceptions of Mark and Nora, headed down the stairs and out of our front door. Thinking about Nora's absence, caused me to realize that she had no idea that her brother was missing. I glanced around and saw my father waving down the police officers. "Hey Dad, Nora needs to know about Mark, who knows, maybe he ran to her apartment." I suggested as my father pulled out his cell phone and typed in Nora's speed dial number.

I heard bits and pieces of the conversation, which did not last long, but anyone in a few yards distance probably, could have heard Nora's astonished reaction as she replied that Mark had not been to her home and that she was coming straight to our house. I wondered if Hank was going to be coming with Nora, but it seemed very unlikely. Hank probably hoped that Mark would not be found, one less "monster" between him and Nora.

By this time, the police were in front of our home, getting out of their vehicles and heading towards my father and mother. I noticed Lorraine heading towards them with Nigel and Kyle. I jogged over there, unwilling to be left out of anything that might help find Mark. By the time that I had arrived there, Dad was giving a jittery description of Mark to one of the policemen. Lorraine helped him out by giving Dad several pictures of our brother. "Thanks, Lorraine." He softly replied, then spoke to the officer, "Here's a picture of him, you can keep it and also take these, I am not sure which will be more beneficial." Dad stammered. A car drove up and parked near the police cars. Without a second to waste, Nora leaped out of the car and had jogged over to us. "Dad, I am so sorry…Hank is a looser, remind me one day to thank Sarah for coming up with soaking his underwear in meat and letting Gunner have a feast. Anyway, where are all the rest of the kids?" Nora inquired, glancing around. Mom and Dad only sighed, so I took that as my cue to answer. "They are all searching different streets of the neighborhood, but he probably will not be found around here. There is no telling of how long he has been missing. Mom cut into the conversation for Nora's and the police's benefit. "I last saw him at four pm, and Jessica discovered that he was not in his room around eight pm. We called you about ten minutes later, so that was 8:10 pm, and it is now um...nine pm, so he could have been missing for five hours" Mom summarized as she looked down at one of the pictures of Mark that she still held on to. A quick glance told me that the picture was of Mark and Mom sitting on the coach while Mark held his stuffed animal frog. Something was different about this picture, something that made this particular shot different from most of the others that Mark has been in. Then it hit me, unlike other pictures, in this photo, Mark was smiling.

The head officer spoke up, "We are in the process of sending police over to the train and bus stations. I am going to begin the Missing Child Alert process now." Another vehicle could be heard and seen stopping at our house. Out jumped a few more officers. To our surprise, they had brought search dogs. Seeing those dogs, made me think about Gunner and I ran inside to fetch him and snap on his leash. I realized that the dogs would probably need something to recognize Mark's scent, so I tore up his stairwell and grabbed a used tee-shirt from his laundry basket. After speeding down the stairs, I quickly met up with the officers and the few family members left at the house. "Here, I brought our dog as well…he knows Mark, so…maybe he will be of some help." I explained. Everyone nodded their thanks and the head officer, whom I had learned was named Ryan Goodman, took the shirt from me and handed it to the men in charge of the dogs. "Good job son," My father stated, giving me a small smile, "Thanks for thinking about Gunner and Mark's shirt." I briefly smile in response as I turned to listen to the police.

"Ok, the alert has been set in motion. I suggest getting a search party started for him. How many children do you have? I know that you have mentioned that some are looking in near-by streets." Ryan asked as he probably prepared to hear the news of some number like five, since Lorraine, Nigel and Kyle had long since started to search. "Well," my mother began, "there are twelve. You have met the oldest three and the two youngest." All the policemen tried to cover their shock, but it was to little avail, we could all see their disbelief.

"Ok…then…well, I am calling in some other officers, members on the community child-watch, and you are free to get whomever you want to get." Ryan stated who had done his best to recover from learning about the, well _numerous_ children in the family. By this time, the search dogs and Gunner were combing the street, sniffing to find Mark's scent. I only hoped that wherever my little brother was that he was alright. I was still fighting the tempting urge to hate myself, as I was one member in the family who had not shown Mark that we loved him. "Mark, please, please be safe." I whispered. I decided to follow Gunner and walked wherever he would lead me.


	4. Of Tickets and Brothers

Chapter Four: Of tickets and brothers (Mark's POV)

WAAH…I don't own Cheaper By The Dozen!

I glanced over my shoulder, as I have grown prone to doing so in the last five hours. As I figured, there was no one following me. Why should they follow me? I was just the loser of the family, the boy that FedEx probably could have dropped off without a single look back. It was doubtful that anyone even realized that I was missing. I turned my attention to the map. Yes, just as I expected, I only had a couple more miles to walk before I reached the airport. I had chosen an airport that was not in the immediate surroundings of Evanston, to throw off anyone who might be trying to follow me. I had stopped a few hours ago at a run-down store to buy some hair dye. I was in luck, because they had lots to choose from, and no security cameras that could record that I had been in there, just in case police came and asked. Luck must have really been with me, because the only employee that I saw was an elderly cashier who looked like their bifocal prescription needed serious updating.

After I had stopped in the store, I had seen a rest stop area and had used the shower area to use one of the hair dyes I had bought, a nice, normal dark brown. I had bought a couple others, just to throw off people. Now I was approaching the airport. I had my ticket already, it was a wonder that no one had asked for my identification, especially since I am a kid and also since we are living in a post-911 world. I had used a gift-card that works as a visa that I was sure that my family had forgotten that was given to me years ago by one of my aunts for a Christmas present to order the plane ticket.

I reached the airport and proceeded to try and look nonchalant as I walked into the building. I did not have to worry about baggage checking in, as I only was only bringing my backpack.

"Ok…where's gate B12," I muttered after breezing through security. "Ah…here it is! Um..thirty minutes until the plane boards." I took a seat and absent-mindedly stared at my ticket. Well it sort of was my ticket, I had paid for it, but I had used a different name than my own. I would now on be Justin Nathanial Mathews.

It was now six hours after I had left for freedom. I had purposefully chosen a late flight, in hopes of getting out of Illinois before day-light. "Children or passengers needing extra time to board may now board the plane!" interrupted my internal monologue and I stood up, stretched and walked over to the steward taking the tickets. "Here you go!" I said as she glanced up and took my ticket and I was ushered inside. I had not looked at the plane before boarding, but as I walked into it, I marveled at the hugeness of it. I had not expected it to be so big, as I did not pay a lot for the ticket. I found my seat, which was luckily in the back by a window, and plopped down. "Ok, phase one complete. When we land I can pick right back up on the map." I quietly whispered to myself, trying to break the silence. I was so far, the only passenger on the plane. Sheesh this quietness was driving me crazy. I had never been in a place that was as quiet as this plane was, especially not at home.

"Hi…what's your name?" I was suddenly jolted back into reality as a young boy, perhaps the age of Kyle and Nigel, popped up in front of me. He had red hair, kind of the same shade as mine used to be. "My name is Bryan Creamer and I am traveling with my older brother, he's ten. His name is Brendan Creamer!" Bryan jabbered on. "This is my first flight. How many flights have you been on?" He stopped to take a breath.

"My name is Mar-Justin…Justin Mathews. Where is your brother anyway?" I asked, grateful for the distraction from the deafening silence.

"He's in the in bathroom…he should be out soon…he's pretty weird. He remembered that he had not brushed his teeth before Dad dropped us off here, so he went to do that." Bryan stated with a look of five-year old annoyance.

I laughed. Bryan sounded so much like the twins…I missed them. Both sets, I mean. Nigel, Kyle and Kim and Jessica. I shook my head to dissolve the memories and smiled at Bryan as I searched for a magazine for kids in the stack in the back of the seat in front of me. Bingo. A nature magazine for kids.

"There's my brother now!" Bryan pointed towards the aisle. Sure enough a boy-I didn't have a clear view of him yet-was sauntering down the aisle towards Bryan. As he came closer, I had an eerie feeling that something was amiss. He finally reached the point where I could see him. "What in the world!..." I muttered, keeping my voice low so no one could hear me.


	5. Unexpected Delay

Chapter Five: Unexpected Delay (Mark's POV)

Oh Man! I still don't own "Cheaper By The Dozen" Also; I know the beginning of this chapter will sound like a lot of other plots, but bear with me as it is not like that. Also, as for certain situations in this chapter, I do not know how they really work, so I do not claim to be an expert.

This was freaky. Brendan, if I did not know any better, could be my twin or something. At any point, it did not matter because he was obviously was not a twin. It was probably just one of those freak of nature things. Bryan once again interrupted my internal monologue and jumped up off his seat-disturbing another passenger who had gotten on.

"Hey Brendan, look here's my new friend…What did you say your name was?" Bryan glanced at me. I could not help but laugh, Bryan was definitely like Kyle and Nigel.

"My name is uh, Justin Mathews. I guess you're the Brendan your brother talked about." I said, noticing that the "fasten seatbelt" sign had flashed on the movie screen in front of me. I obeyed the rule and waited while Brendan and Bryan, who surprisingly had seats next to me, get into their seats and buckled up. After listening to some boring instructions on what to do in an emergency, I began to talk to the Creamers again. I noticed that Brendan looked upset about something, but I could not figure out why he looked so downcast. Whatever it was, Bryan was either oblivious or used to it. "So…uh…what are the in-flight movies that they are showing?" I asked as a way of distraction. Brendan shrugged and glanced at the television in front of his seat.

"Well, it says that there is a movie titled "Beethoven" and "The Parent Trap"…oh and this old 1950s movie, "Cheaper By The Dozen." I think that's about a family with twelve kids. Sheesh, I wonder how it would be to grow up with eleven brothers and sisters. I guess you'd have to have some pretty patient parents. To me it seems that it would really hard to not get lost in the shuffle. _Tell me about it_, I thought silently.

"Yeah, I guess it would be hard." I said. "Well…I don't know about you, but I am watching "Beethoven," it's about a dog, and I love dogs, especially big ones." My thoughts drifted to Gunner, man I missed him! Out of the blue the plane began to shake worse than normal. I was scared and felt stupid for being a sissy so I swallowed and sucked in my fear.

"Brendan, why is the plane shaking?" Bryan asked. Well, I was wondering the same thing. Bryan quivered. "I'm scared" as he cast his wet eyes towards his brother and then towards me. I ventured to speak.

"I am sure that it's nothing…right?" I asked Brendan. Honestly, I did not know but I really hoped that things would be fine. The plane seemed to shake worse and I silently gulped. The intercom came to life suddenly.

"Ladies and gentleman, we are experiencing some difficulties with the plane and need to make an emergency landing in Colorado shortly. Please buckle your seatbelts. We are sorry for the inconvenience." I cast a worried glance at Brendan. This really was not good. Hopefully it was only a minor problem that could be fixed in no time at all. Every delayed moment could mean another chance for someone to realize that I was not Justin Matthews but rather the runaway son of Tom Baker.

As I sat in my chair with my seatbelt secured on me, I listened to Brendan and Bryan talk. They must have thought that I was lost in thoughts because they were holding a conversation that I obviously was not supposed to hear. "Brendan, who did you say would be picking us up from the airport?" Bryan asked in his squeaky childish voice. Bryan looked really freaked out, but then again so were I and I can imagine Brendan was not in peace with the situation at hand. Brendan ruffled Bryan's hair as he seemed to stop and think about how to word something tough that he was about to say. At least it seemed that way because he was looking like Mom did when she had to tell us that Aunt Teri had been killed in a car crash. "Bryan…we're going to be picked up by a lady from the home…Dad...well Mr. Johnson, told me that it's a nice home with loving workers." Brendan stuttered. Now I was thoroughly confused. What in the world were they talking about?

"But why are we being sent away? Don't they like us anymore?" Bryan cried. He clutched a little worn teddy bear that I had not noticed before. Brendan made a half-smile and sighed. "Bryan, they said that we would have a higher chance of being adopted if we were placed in a group home in Washington. I know it's tough to understand, but until we get adopted, we'll probably be moved around a bunch of times. I know this isn't a good situation here and I miss our real parents as much as you do, but they died and so we have to live where the government wants us to. Mr. Johnson was like a father to me and you so I know that he is doing this for our good, but it still hurts." Whoa.

Talk about a tough situation. They had no family and probably desperately wanted a family; I had a family and desperately wished that I did not have one. I coughed as a way of reminding them that I was still there. They both looked up, their faces drained of color. "Did you just hear all that?" Brendan whispered, ashamed. He looked as he had just been caught red-handed stealing from a bank.

"Yeah, I heard all of it, but it's ok, I mean it isn't like you just admitted some heinous crime, it's not like you can help that you don't have parents." I said, trying not to sound too shocked. Suddenly the plane shifted with a loud noise. Within a second we were in a ninety-degree angle with the nose facing the distant ground. The plane picked up speed and seemed to race to the earth below. Everyone was screaming, including my new friends and I. Nothing was stopping the plane. It just seemed to go faster as if it was preparing for an Olympic dive.

The intercom came to life once again. "Passengers…we are doing everything possible to stop the plane, please do not panic," announced a stuttering voice that showed that she was not following her own advice. Her advice was void though as no one paid attention to her plea of not panicking. Bryan was hysterical now. Brendan was doing his best to comfort him, but as he was barely holding it together, he was not doing a great job.

As the plane continued to pick up speed, all I could think to do was pray. So I silently prayed-a skill that my parents had installed in me when I was a really little kid. It was becoming clear that nothing would stop the plane and that probably a lot of people on the plane would not be able to walk away. I gulped…would I really never see my family again? Why did I run away, were they really all that bad, even Sarah who acted like I was some verbal punching bag? I ignored all the commotion that was engulfing the plane.

I stared out the window. Dad had always taught me that fearing something that was going to occur was worse than the event occurring. With a sadistic frame of mind, I desperately wished that the plane would hurry up and crash. The fear was suffocating now. I grasped my hands and waited for the inevitable to occur. Suddenly it happened. We slammed unto the ground with a sickening force. Something banged my head as the plane toppled over. Fire immediately spread through the plane. I could feel myself growing strangely tired so I shut my eyes, giving in to the temptation.


	6. Clued In

Chapter Six: Clued In (Sarah's POV)

Once again, "Cheaper By the Dozen is woefully not mine. PS. Sorry it took so LONG for this to come online…I was really busy and internet is not reliable here. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.

I never thought that I would say this, but I miss Mark. True, he is a nerd, but he really wasn't that bad! It's now one a.m. and we are no closer to finding Mark than when we began the search hours earlier. Charlie had taken Gunner, but he and the rest of the dogs lost Mark's scent quickly. I was in the process now of trying to come up with a scheme that Henry, Jake, Kim, Jessica, Mike, Nigel and Kyle and I could use to find Mark. For some reason, my notorious planning skills were not working as well they normally do.

"How about we see if Beans can come back to life and see if he will lead us to him?" Kyle suggested. I managed to restrain from rolling my eyes and laughing. I did not want Kyle to feel the same way that I often made Mark feel.

"Well, Kyle that would be a good idea, but I don't think that would be possible. I mean, there isn't anyone here with the name of Jesus Christ." I said as calmly as I could.

I sat quietly for a few minutes twiddling my thumbs and tried to think of some way to help find Mark. I thought about every detective movie that I had seen in my life. Nothing really stood out. All the recent detective movies relied on fancy, expensive gadgets that I knew we would not be able to get our hands onto it. Kimmy interrupted my thoughts with a sudden realization.

"Guys, all the police are doing and as well as Mom and Dad, are just using the old fashioned dog search, among other novelties. I propose that we search this house top-to-bottom looking for clues that may lead us to him. I think that the reason no one has found him yet, is that everyone has been looking for Mark directly and not searching for clues that he may have left!" Kimmy stated as Jessica nodded in agreement. Once again, the twins have brainstormed another awesome plan.

"Ok, let's use that plan. Henry, you search with Mike, Kyle and Nigel are partners, Kim and Jessica as usual, you two go search together, and Jake I will be partners. Henry and Mike, why don't you two search the basement, Kyle and Nigel…um….can you handle searching the bathroom to see if he like left a note?" Kyle and Nigel nodded and proceeding to run off. "WAIT! Meet back here in thirty minutes!" "Ok…let's see…Kim and Jessica, search the computer room, and make sure no file is left untouched on the computer. Henry, Mike, you two search the outside surrounding grounds, Jake and I will search his room. LET'S GO!"

As soon as I gave the command, everyone ran to their specific places. Jake and I rushed into Mark's room. There was a peculiar smell. Make that an awful smell. I quickly spotted the source. "Here is Beans," Kim mentioned that she found him in here. I don't know if she took him out of his room and then placed him back in here, or if he was left in here untouched." Jake covered his mouth and nose.

"This place REALLY stinks!...Um, what do you think that we should look for?" Jake asked, glancing around. I spotted Mark's desk out of the corner of my eye. I walked over and noticed that there were piles of papers on the desk and around it.

"You search the desk, I'll search the bed and closet." I walked back to the bed and looked around. There wasn't anything on top of the bed besides Beans and Mark's stuffed frog that he had gotten on one of our summer vacations. I gave the frog a slight squeeze and whispered to it that Mark would be back to him soon. Normally, I would not be caught dead talking to an animal, whether real or fake, but these were extreme circumstances. I focused my search on under the bed. To my dismay the only things that were there were some random photos of Mark on various birthdays and the family on vacations throughout the years. I sighed and decided to hold onto them.

"Did you find anything yet, Jake?" I asked, moving over to the closet. Sheesh, it was a royal mess, but then again so was my room, so I really couldn't talk but so much.

"Nothing as of yet, just a lot of old school papers and a state project from the third grade. He received an "A" on it," Jake noted, setting the report down. Man this was going even slower than I thought that it would. It was almost time to meet the others and Jake and I had not found anything that amounted to much of anything. Even the search of the closet was proving to be fruitless.

"Here, just take that project and I will take a couple of random things, maybe we can gather a little more information if we all compared notes." Thinking quickly, I grabbed a few pictures from under the bed and Mark's stuffed frog. Jake I glanced at each other and then ran down the stairs to find that only Nigel and Kyle were back. Nigel was holding something.

"Here, we found this, it's Mark's rain slicker, but it was lying on the ground!" Nigel said, showing the item to me, proudly. Kyle beamed too. I wasn't sure why a rain slicker was such a great find, but I didn't want to hurt their feelings plus Jake and I hadn't found anything of value either.

"We found a few things that we brought downstairs as well. Let's just wait for the others before we discuss anymore items." Jake suggested, looking at his watch. The action must have been contagious because I caught myself staring at my watch. The rest of the group were ten minutes late. Henry and Mike didn't surprise me with being late, but for Jessica and Kim to be tardy, that was a whole different story. Several more minutes pass and Kim and Mike both run up to us from separate directions.

"You have to come and check out this!" They both yell. The two must have startled themselves because they looked at each other confused. "Did you find something?" They both ask-once again at the same time. This routine was getting really old, very fast.

"Whoa, both of you take chill pills, ok!" I interrupted them and then addressed Mike. "So Mike, did you find anything?" I really hoped that it wasn't anything stupid and that it would help lead us to Mark.

"Yeah, Henry found a whole bunch of papers, we aren't sure of what to make of them. He is gonna bring them up here. He said something about meeting in a room that would not be interrupted by adults.

Hum..Important papers…I prayed that these papers would help solve the over-due mystery. I then turned towards Kim. "So, Kim what did you and Jessica hack off the computer?"

"Jessica is going to bring the print-outs, but we found some very interesting details that either Mom or Dad were careless with or one of us kids owns a credit card, among other peculiarities." Kim matter-of-factly stated to us.

As if on cue, Henry and Jessica both run towards us from different areas of the house. Both had perplexed facial expressions. Before they could start talking, I ushered them into my room and locked the door.

"Ok, everyone drop whatever you found onto my bed." I placed the photographs and stuffed animal on my bed and the rest followed my lead. "Alright, let's see what we have. Nigel and Kyle found a rain slicker…Kim could you get my portable white board and take notes? Thanks…Jake and I found random photographs, a stuffed animal and a geography-history project…Mike and Henry found…let's see…documents, they look like some official kind…and Kim and Jessica found interesting information on the family computer," I summed up everything and then let Kim and Jessica take over the meeting, as they were better at this stuff than I was.

"Guys…we found some emails that Mark received. I was able to hack into his e-mail account and look what I found!" Jessica proudly displayed an email. It looked like it was spam mail from an airline company, but then I read the subject line. "Thank you for choosing to fly with us!"

"You mean, Mark is on a plane right now?" I questioned. "No wonder no one has found him!" Kim shook her head in approval but also gestured to something in the text of the e-mail. I read the line that she was insistent that I read. "'Thank you Mr. Justin Mathews for choosing us to fly with. Your flight date is…'" I stopped reading. "So Mark is going by the alias of Justin Mathews?" That is a huge step in the right direction." I nodded with approval. "Ok..someone write that on the board." I noticed that Jessica looked like she had more news.

"The tickets were purchased with a credit card. As I have watched Mom and Dad use their credit cards many times, I realized that the part of the number they show on the email isn't either of those numbers. However, they are close matches to our gift cards that act as credit cards that we received a long time ago. This number may very well be his card. So, write that on the board as well. Ok that is all that we have."

"Mike and I found some court papers. We aren't sure of what to make of them." Henry offered, gesturing towards the papers. Kim, Jessica, Jake and I each took a page and studied it. As if on cue, all of our heads shot up, alarmingly.

"That's not possible…" I trailed off. The looks on my siblings' faces read the same message.


	7. Wreckage

Chapter 7: Discoveries (Josh's POV)

Disclaimer: I do not own Cheaper By The Dozen NOR do I own Josh or Micah as they are based on real people in my life. PS-To people who noticed a slight inconsistency of where the different characters were told to go search and where they actually went, that will be explained in a later chapter. Also this chapter describes the accident and may be graphic for some people. Anyway please read and review!

I had gone to bed with an ear to my emergency radio next to my ear. This was routine as I lived for adventure. Not too many people understand this call, but to those of us who do, they realize that it's in our blood. I am a fireman and I also work other types of disasters. I would love to say that I have been doing this most of my life, but as I am only twenty-two years old, I was relatively new at my calling.

As I slowly drifted off to sleep, I recalled the day's events. Nothing much out of the ordinary, it was the usual type of day teaching my students violin and piano. Oh yeah, I was also a violin and piano instructor. Man I wish some of my students would practice. _Suddenly I was in an audience watching a concert featuring my students. Oh great, Betty forgot her music and Ben forgot his violin_…Crackle….Crackle…What was that noise? Was someone's violin not tuned correctly? The crackling declined and was replaced by voices... "All units report…"

I woke up with a start. The message played again. "All units report to their stations immediately. Repeat, All units report to their stations immediately!" I jumped out of bed, throwing on the necessary clothing and ran out of the house. As I drove the quick distance to the station, I wondered briefly what the emergency was. I did not have to wait long. The captain was already at one of the ladder engines.

"Good, you're here. The others should be coming soon. There was a plane crash next county over. The first responders said that it was massive. Be prepared, there will probably be a lot of casualties." I nod and headed to the vehicle that the captain pointed to. I noticed the rest of the crew had arrived and were getting the same briefing that I had got. Not even two minutes later we had pulled out of the station and were rushing to the scene of the plane crash. Adrenaline was taking over and I took a couple of quick breathes so that I could be able to my job once arriving.

We got to the scene within a few minutes. I normally have a very strong stomach but it was all I could do to not retch. This was worse than I had expected. I doubted that many if any would be found alive. I said a quick pray as I along with the rest of my station raced to the rescue crew in charge.

After a quick talk, I was told to search a section of what was left of the plane. I nodded and jogged over to the assigned area. The fire was near my area but not directly on it. Following the instructions I had been given, I began to dig through the mess. It did not take long to find the first causality. It appeared to be a woman. I called over to the person dealing with bodies and refocused my attention to finding survivors. I had to shift things around to even be able to move a foot. I hit something as I was trying to move. It did not appear to be metal or other types of wreckage so I crouched down again and begun to dig once more. I quickly uncovered what seemed to be a child's arm. I started digging faster. I prayed that this child would be found alive because the worst type of death is one to a child. Soon I had uncovered a boy with red hair. I heard a jagged noise and realized it was the sound of the boy's breathing. However, I could tell that the child was clinging to life.

"Hi. My name's Josh. My buddies and I going to get you out of this mess. I just need you to be calm." The child seemed to respond via blinking. "You're doing a good job." I had to keep him thinking positively because in truth, the child looked like he was closer to becoming a victim rather than a survivor.

"Josh." The child mumbled. I silently rejoiced and called over to my partner. "Micah come here, I found a survivor, a child. That single statement drew attention from the rest of the crew as EMTs rushed over with a stretcher. The child was gently lifted on. I turned to leave when I heard his voice again.

"Josh…help…friends…please." The child managed to whisper as he struggled to speak around coughing fits. He closed his eyes and was taken to a near-by helicopter.

Renewed by the sight of a survivor, I began to search that area once again. The boy had mentioned friends, so I basically could count on more children being found in that vicinity. Whether they would be found a live was a mystery yet to be seen. I had searched for a good ten minutes when I noticed what seemed to be strands of hair. I dug with more enthusiasm and slowly but surely there was another child, this one seemed to be younger than the first.

"Kid, can you hear me?" I question after I uncovered his face. His glossy blank stare gave me the sinking feeling that this child would not be as blessed as the first one. He, like the first one was bleeding profusely and did not seem to respond to touch. I sighed and began to call the person that handled bodies. As a preliminary measure, I checked his pulse again. To my surprise the child did have a pulse, albeit a very weak one. "Guys we have another survivor, but rush it on this one!" The child and I were immediately swarmed and the little boy was quickly placed on a stretcher and in the air to the nearest hospital within minutes.

Encouraged by the site of the first two surviving children, I resumed my search. The first boy had mentioned friends, as in there was more than one. Knowing that I probably would find another child, I prayed that this one would also be found alive. I did not have to search long before I came to another lump in the mounds of rubble. As I did previously, I quickly but carefully uncovered another boy, this time he seemed to be the age of the first one. At first glance, I had him pegged as causality. He looked as if the life had been sucked out of him. I heard a faint noise and realized that he was beginning to cough up blood. Realizing that the child was alive but like the first two boys, was in grave danger, I quickly called to Micah again.

"Micah, get the others over here. This child needs medical help pronto!" Micah rushed over. Well, rushed as fast he could, he had hurt his knee a few weeks ago and it left him with a bit of a limp. The crew had to struggle to get the last boy out of the mess and when they finally succeeded, they did not waste a minute getting in the air.

Not one to be slow, I turned and went back to my area. It was then I heard a loud noise. I tried to fathom where the noise was coming from. As it turned out, I did not have to wait too long because I was suddenly thrown in the air as a gas explosion occurred. Flying through the air, I could feel pain surrounding my body and realized with alarm that my helmet was coming off. The moment in the air felt like an eternity. Suddenly I fell to the ground in a heap. I felt my eyelids grow heavy and I closed them. My last thoughts were on the three children I had helped find and rescue. I hoped they would all make it. Then I remembered nothing more.


	8. Waking Up

Chapter 8: Waking up (Josh's POV)

Nope, still don't own Cheaper By The Dozen nor Micah or Josh...Well maybe…nah..lol Ok, I do own Hannah Grace.

"Ugh, someone forgot to turn off the lights," I muttered as I squinted at the bright light directly above me. I took a gander to figure out where I was and why was I there. It was then I noticed that one of my legs was elevated and in a cast. My right arm was in one as well. Suddenly a train-wreck of a head-ache became noticeable to me. "Great this is just wonderful." Ok, I had established that I was hurt a bit and that I had a monster of a migraine, but yet to be answered was where was I? I slowly adverted my eyes to different parts of the room and I realize that I have a couple of wires and tubes on me. "Great, I must be in the hospital, but why?" I noticed a nurse walking into the room and seized the opportunity to shoot her with questions.

"Why am I here? When in the world am I going to be able to ditch this place? And HOW in the world am I supposed to play the violin and piano with this on!" I asked gesturing to the cage of a cast on m arm.

The nurse gave a tired laugh. "To answer your first question, you are in the hospital because of a small accident while you were working. Secondly, you will be able to ditch this place once your concession is taken care of and you stop running a fever. Next question…well….I don't know how you will be able to accomplish playing your instruments. I wish I was a musician, but sadly I am not.

"Oh…ok…so what is your name so I can call you something other than 'nurse' ?" I asked trying to see if she had a nametag on, but with the killer headache, I could not focus on anything. She gave another small laugh.

"Well…actually I am not a nurse, but I am volunteer…I think the old term is 'Candy Stripper' though I don't give out candy. My name, by the way, is Hannah Elizabeth Grace. I was told to come and check to see if you were awake. Your doctor will be in here in a few minutes to run a couple of tests." Hannah smiled and with a soft voice, said her salutations. Mercifully, she remembered to tone the light down.

I settled back onto my pillow willing my headache to disappear. This was the worst head ache I had ever been dealt and since I have sinus problems, that was saying a lot. True to Hannah's word, I heard approaching footsteps and then a slight knock on the door. "Come in" I answered, guessing that it would be the doctor.

"Hello. I am Dr. Fredrickson. I need to ask you a few questions before I do the other tests. Answer as best as you can." I noticed that he held a clip board and a well-used ink pen. "First off, what is your name and how old are you?"

"Wait a second, shouldn't you know that?" I asked confusedly. Dr. Fredrickson smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I do know your name, I am just testing your memory, now let's continue. What is you name and how old are you?" He repeated. I did not waste any time on this simple question.

"My name is Joshua Aaron Grosjean. I go by 'Josh I am twenty-two years-old.'" I answered, a bit bored. I hoped he would be done soon so I could rest…Oh right there were more tests after this one. I guess the old saying that if you want a place where you are kept awake, go to a hospital, desire a place to sleep go to a hotel.

"Alrighty then. Good job," I resist the urge to roll my eyes at being rewarded at such an easy question. "Now, tell me, what is your profession or professions?" Good, another easy question. I leaned back a tad as my head felt heavy.

"I am a teacher of music, particularly violin and piano. I also am a fire fighter," I replied without hesitation. I was getting frustrated, I wanted to know why I was in the hospital and no one had answered that for me.

"Great Josh. Now here is one that might be a toughie. Why are you here? Do you remember what happened to cause you to be in a hospital?"

Ok. Whatever I said about these questions being idiotic, I take it back. I tried to recall anything that may have landed me in here. I took a wild guess. "Um…Um…Maybe I fell down the stairs, because I was concentrating on playing my violin and didn't realize I walked to close to the stairwell…" Wait a second; I don't even have a staircase. Even though I realized that my house did not have a stairwell, I glanced at the doctor to see if by some amazing circumstance, he would affirm that was what had happened. My hopes were dashed as I watched him shake his head.

"I am afraid that is not what happened. I am going to keep you in the hospital so we can run CAT scans and such. For now, I have other patients to look at, so I will come by later for your other tests." Dr. Fredrickson glanced at his watch and abruptly left the room. Oh great, no one would tell me what in the world had happened to me. There weren't even books or anything to keep my interests. Well, there was a TV, but I was not one to watch television. I decided to take a little snooze to hopefully squelch my headache. I closed my eyes and soon was drifting into the familiar arms of unconsciousness.

_I am walking down a corridor. I seem to recognize the place, but I can not name it. I begin to hear voices, and they seem to be calling for me. I glance around. I cannot see them. I don't really understand what they are saying either because their voices are muffled. I strain to decipher the voices….They seem like they belong to young people. Boys in fact. "Hello, where are you?" I call out. Their voices begin to clear and I can understand them better._

_"Help, please help!" I hear one boy call. His voice seems desperate. I glance around the corridor but do not see him. _

_"Where are you?" I call out, trying to locate the child. _

_"I'm in here and so are a couple of friends!" The boy practically wailed. I stood there confused, trying to see if I could hear where the voice was originating from. It was no use; I would have to call to him again. _

_"Where is here?" I asked, hoping to get a straight answer this time. Please…please tell me where you are, I kept thinking. I prayed that the child's next answer would lead me to him. _

_"See that pile of metal? That is where I am!" The boy whined. I glanced around and surely enough I could see a pile of burnt up metal to my left. I ran to it, wondering how the child or children as he claimed could have ended up there. I carefully begin to remove layer upon layer of metal and other material that I suppose used to serve a purpose in some way. I finally reach the children. There are three boys, two of similar ages and one younger. They look familiar. Where had I seen them before? One child seemed even more familiar._

_"What are your names?" I question as I begin to call for help. I am getting freaked out as they are beginning to give me blank stares. One child, presumably the one I heard before, begins to whisper a response. _

_"Our names are…" I do not hear the rest of his sentence if he completed it. The room is swirling now and getting darker by the second. Suddenly there is no corridor, no pile of discarded metal and no children._

"Hello Mr. Joshua Grosjean. I am back to complete the other tests." The doctor who had visited me earlier materialized in front of me. Oh…I must have fallen asleep. I thought back to the dream, something was oddly familiar about those children, but I could not figure it out. I shook my head to clear out my boggled up mind and realized that moving my head probably was not the best idea with the head ache I realized had not gone away. I focused my attention to the doctor once again. "I need to take you in for a CAT scan, and MRI, but I think that those tests will be about it," He told me.

"Alright," I agreed, it was not like I had much choice in the matter, so I did not put up an argument. I sighed as I was taken to the room that the tests would be performed.

Hours later, I was able to go back to my room. Doctor Fredrickson had told me that if the tests' results were alright and did not show anything new that I would be able to be released in forty-eight hours. I was ecstatic about that as I had never been exactly fond of hospitals. Arriving back to the room, I notice one of my fire fighter friends in my room.

"Hey Micah." I greet as I was allowed to perch on my bed. Micah seemed a bit subdued and I wondered briefly if he had come from a bad call. It figures that there would be a call when I could not attend. Such is my life.

"Hey Josh, how are you feeling?" Micah asks, as a way of a greeting. He is holding something on his lap, but from my vantage point, I could not tell what it was.

"Oh, I've been better, but I am not going to complain. What is that you are holding?" I asked, distractedly. The dream that I had was still playing through my mind.

"Oh, it's your helmet, I wanted to bring it to you and show you what had happened to it," Micah replied. I had the awful feeling that I was missing a huge piece of the puzzle, but I tried to follow what Micah was saying.

"Where did you get my helmet? I usually keep it in my car? Did I accidentally leave it at the station? And I don't recall there being anything wrong with it." Micah's expression turned from mildly concerned to alarmingly concerned.

"You mean, you don't remember what happened?" Micah questioned. Well, duh, if I had remembered, would I be this confused? I kept that last thought to myself. Maybe I would finally be able to learn what had happened to me. From the sounds of it, I had been in some sort of Fire-fighting mishap.

"No, I don't have any clue as to what happened. Enlighten me, please," I command more than really ask. Micah seemed nervous and he fidgeted a couple of minutes.

"I probably shouldn't tell you, it may be best to let yourself remember it. I can tell you that your helmet strap somehow got cut, I am not entirely sure how though" He answered, he stood up and half-smiled. "Well, I have to go home, it's my turn to fix dinner for my family and you know how cranky they get if it is late." Micah left.

Great, nobody would tell me what had occurred. I guessed that I would have to find out for myself. I turned on the television set, hoping that whatever had happened had made it on the news' channels.

"We bring you breaking news! In the horrific plane crash a while ago there were a total of three survivors. All three of them were children. The rest of the passengers and crew perished. There is no telling how these three blessed children made it but only by the grace of God! Here is video footage of the wreckage. We cannot focus in on the children as next of kin have not been located. This footage was taken soon after the crash and we have just been able to play it.

I stared at the screen; the accident seemed to be horrible. It was ironic that my dream consisted of three children as well…Oh well, coincidence I suppose. The television quickly zoomed in on a firefighter surrounded by other rescue workers. The firefighter that the camera was focusing in on was digging through the rumble. Man I would love to have been there! That was the type of stuff that I ached to be rescue people in. The firefighter along with the others was now lifting a child. The child's face and hair had been blurred as to not give the child's identity. The camera then went to another scene very similar to the first and finally to a third of the same nature. I had the odd sensation that I had already seen this footage. I clued in to what the reporter was saying.

"We have news that that firefighter was injured minutes after finding the child. We do not know the extent of his injuries. We discovered that the strap of his helmet had been cut, possibly due to hitting it with metal. He hit his head when an explosion occurred and he was thrown in the air. No one else was injured."

Wait a second. Micah said that my helmet straps seem to have been cut. I also feel like that I had experienced this accident first-hand, not via TV. Could I have been that firefighter? I hadn't been able to see the numbers on his coat, but that was the only logical conclusion. If I was that firefighter, I would like to know how the three children that I helped rescue were doing. I still had the shaky feeling that I had recognized the three of them in my dream. For some reason, I thought that I even more so recognized one of them more than the others. I was determined to find out as much as I could the next time anyone came through my door. I only hoped that person would know the answers. It turned out that I would not have to wait long for someone to enter the room. This time it was Hannah. She cheerfully entered the room, straightened up the curtains and smiled.

"Hey Josh…let's see if that fever has broken." She used an ear-thermometer to get a quick reading. "Hum, you are still running a bit of a fever, but it's not bad, only 100.5 F," she muttered briefly. How do you feel?"

"Besides my parade of a head-ache, I am doing alright. Though I wish I didn't have to wear these casts," I answered. I then decided to get straight to the point. I struggled to sit up straight and looked Hannah in the eyes. "Hannah was I hurt in the aftermath of the plane wreck? I saw the wreckage of it on the television. I have a feeling that I am the firefighter who got hurt helping those three children." I hoped that Hannah would answer truthfully.

"Well…my supervisor said that if you asked what happened, then I could confirm or deny the situation that you thought had occurred. I will have to say…yes, that it is what occurred." Hannah seemed a bit reluctant yet at the same time, that I knew what had sent me to the hospital. After having heard that I was right on target, I decided that the next thing to do would be to ask more questions.

"Those children I found…did they survive?" I asked. I hoped that I would be allowed to hear that much. I knew that hospitals had strict confidentiality laws. "Also…as this is the nearest hospital, I assume that they were taken here, am I correct?" I held my breath as Hannah seemed to debate what she could tell me.

"Yes," she said finally, "they are alive. Yes, they were taken here, but I cannot delve much more than that. I wish I could tell their parents that you were the one to rescue them, because I know that they would probably want to meet you, but we are having trouble notifying the children's next of kin." Hannah tightly smiled, and looked at me again.

"Is your head feeling any better?" I grimace and she understood. "I am sorry about that; the results of your tests should be in soon. The doctor said that he would see to get a nurse give you some pain killers, if your tests show that you will be able to handle the meds. I have to leave now because my shift is over, but I will see you tomorrow." Hannah left as quickly as she had come.

Those children were here. I wanted…no…needed to find them. There had to be more going on than that met the eye. I just wished that I could figure it out. Something just was not clicking in the correct order, but what? With a realization that I probably was not going to get out of my room unassisted, decided to hold off on my plan and look at some of the mail that Micah had picked up for me. I had not realized he had done it until I saw some envelopes on the nightstand. Bill…credit card offer…letter from my folks….and an envelope that had my name on it, but I did not recognize the name. It was addressed to me, but had my music studio's name as well. Curiosity got the best of me and I gingerly broke the seal and opened it. Enclosed was a letter that seemed official. What surprised me was that it was a letter from the state of Illinois.

_Dear Joshua Aaron Grosjean, _

_We hope that this letter finds you in good health. A couple months ago, we inquired of your waiting list for students for a couple of children who we are caring for. As we informed you in our last contact, these two children will be moved to Washington State very soon. You made mention that your waiting list was long, but that because of the unusual circumstance, you could take these two boys right away. Washington will be in contact with you soon about payment issues. Thank you for agreeing to help these children. We have heard of your skill and reputation working with children, and feel that you would one of the best music teachers for them._

_As mentioned previously, these two children had begun to take music lessons (both violin and piano) but with their move, we did not know if we could get a teacher for them. They both seem to love music and when they heard that they would be quitting their old teachers, they were devastated. I believe that music was one of the ways that they coped with the death of their parents. We have enclosed a more recent picture of them. The last picture we sent (not that you need it, but we try to include pictures of the children if we have to write letters in asking of services) was old and did not include the younger boy. The oldest one's name is Brendan Creamer and the youngest one is his brother, Bryan Creamer. Thank you in advance. _

_Sincerely, _

_Illinois' Social Services. _

I took the pictures out of the envelope and promptly dropped them. This was getting way past weird. I was staring at the faces that I had seen in my dream. This was freaky. Ok, so at least I knew the name of two of the children who I helped save. I wondered if the hospital even realized it. Knowing that hospitals could have a lack of communication, I doubted that they had realized it. I could think of nothing else than to share the news with them. I carefully press the call button. I knew it would most likely send a nurse in the room rather quickly. Just as I had expected, within a minute, there was a knock on the door followed by the sound of the door creaking open. Not wanting to waste a minute, I begin to announce my findings. I held the pictures in my hands out for the nurse to see.

"Are these the two boys that I rescued whom are at this hospital?" I dared to hope that the nurse would be able to affirm me and that this information would not classified. I watched her face turn from utter confusion to a slow state of surprise. She snapped her attention back towards me.

"Yes…I think so…how and why do you have these pictures?" I handed her my letter. She began to mutter, but I could still hear every word that was spoken. "No wonder we haven't been able to find their parents…At first with all the filth on their hair and body, I would never have recognized them, but after a good cleaning up, they sure look like the kids…" She addressed me once more, "Do you mind if I take the letter and pictures to my boss, I have a feeling these will be of use."

It was not like I had much choice so I let her have them. I really wanted to know about those children. I guess I would know soon enough, or at least I hoped I would. I was never great on patience, so waiting would proverbially kill me. I knew the boys were juveniles, so I figured that they would be in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. I made my decision, the next moment that I could escape somehow without being noticed, I would at least try to find them. This was going to be a tough gig to pull off as having a broken leg and arm does not help to make a person inconspicuous.

I had to wait until nighttime to pull off my plan. I had snatched a pair of crutches and was now ready to creep down to the section of the hospital. Miraculously I made it to the section of the hospital without being stopped. Then came the tricky part, how was I going to actually get to see them. Hospitals are very strict on who they allow see ICU patients, especially patients who are children. Sitting in the waiting room were a couple of adults that I did not recognize. Somehow, they seemed to recognize me. The woman walked over towards me.

"Aren't you the person who helped save the children in the plane crash? They said you would be here." I nodded yes and she kept talking. "Two of the children are under state guardianship. I am their new case worker. My name is Melanie Erika. Hey…since you helped with their rescue, would you like to visit them? I could get it arranged." Now, this was something that interested me, I nodded again and she walked over to the nurses station. She talked with them for several minutes and then motioned for me to join her. The nurse greeted me.

"Normally, only family is allowed to visit these patients, but as they do not have any family, you may visit them. Only for a few minutes though, and be warned that they will look very different than when you saw them, or when you showed us those pictures earlier today. Brendan and Bryan are in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit A. The other boy is still in surgery under a specialized team. Just put this on." she handed me sterilized hospital garb and I struggled to get it on because of my injuries.

After following the nurse's instructions, I carefully stepped into the unit. I quickly found the boys, as their beds were in the same room. I guess they did not want to separate the brothers as they had already been through a lot. They were both sleeping off the medications from their surgeries. I went over to the oldest one; he looked worse off than his brother. Even his hair was messed up. It seemed like he had bits of dirt on it, as there were smudges of brown on the otherwise red hair. I heard a cough and drew my attention to the younger one, Bryan, I think his name was. He was frantically shifting his eyes everywhere. He suddenly found his voice. "Brendan…I'm scared, where are we?" His gaze fell on me. "Who are you? Where am I?" He mumbled sleepily. I felt sorry for the little kid.

"Um…I am Josh; your brother is over there, you'll be alright." I did not mention where the little boy was as to not frighten him. I figured that someone would tell him when the time was right. Bryan seemed alright, besides having surgery to repair his shattered leg and a several stitches on his face and arms. Bryan suddenly spotted his brother.

"Brendan!" Bryan called out. His brother did not respond as he was still sleeping the surgery off, but there seemed to be a little disturbance. I hobbled back to Brendan. He slowly blinked and seemed to be focusing on trying to look around. He spoke, but at first it was too raspy to hear, as his breathing tube almost eliminated his chances to vocalize. He overcame that though and I was able to hear what he had to say.

"Who are you? Where am I? For that matter, who am I? And why can't I feel anything?" Ok, I expected confusion when he woke up, but not that much. I promised him that it would be alright and quickly got the nurse. I hoped that he would be able to feel something soon. If he did not, then he could be paralyzed. Suddenly two other nurses walked past me and I over heard their conversation. It seemed that the third child from the crash was out of surgery, but yet they did not have a positive identification on him yet. I wondered what state he would be in. Would he be like Bryan where he would recover well with time or would he be like Brendan who may not recover….or would he be worse? Only time would tell. It was time for me to go back to my room. My fiancée would be there to see me tomorrow and I did not need for her to ask me a million questions and voice her opinion on how tired I looked. I said a quick prayer for the three children and left to go to my room.


End file.
